Area companies post solid year collectively

The tracking index for 15 publicly traded Inland Northwest companies ended a good year with a mild dip in the fourth quarter.

The Hart Capital Inland Northwest Index lost 3.2 percent in total value during 2012’s fourth quarter.

For the full year the index reported a gain of 14.2 percent.

During the same period, the broad S&P 500 was up 13.4 percent.

Hart Capital Management, a Spokane-based investment company, produces the index to track the market performance of the area’s public companies. The accompanying graph is weighted to account for the relative market capitalization of the 15 companies.

The index is measured against the S&P 500; the Hart index is based on a starting value of 100 from Dec. 31, 2002.

The company doesn’t manage an investment fund based on the index, but uses it to track the performance of regional companies, said company President Craig Hart.

In 2011 the Hart index lost 19.9 percent, while the S&P 500 that year ended the year flat.

The top performing stocks in the Hart Capital Index for the year were Key Tronic Corp., Potlatch Corp. and Sterling Financial Corp., with respective increases of 118 percent, 25.8 percent and 25.1 percent.

Avista Corp. was the laggard in the group, down 6.4 percent for the year.

Hart also produces a separate tracking tool based on total market value of the 15 companies. For the full year, that composite index rose 13 percent to $11.8 billion from $10.4 billion.